Pope Francis has appointed Lorenzo Fazzini, an Italian journalist, author and father of four, to be managing director of the Vatican Publishing House.
The 43-year-old is the first layman to head the office, which is now operated by the Vatican Dicastery for Communication. He replaces Conventual Francis-can Father Giulio Cesareo, who had been appointed in 2017.
The Vatican made the announcement Aug. 23. Fazzini has degrees in modern literature and religious studies, has authored eight books and has written for several newspapers, including the Vatican’s L’Osservatore Romano and the Italian bishops’ conference’s daily, Avvenire. Since 2012, he has been director of EMI, a publishing house for 15 Italian missionary institutes that work all over the world.